Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 8, 1 August 2013 — Forest Legacy Program [ARTICLE]

Forest Legacy Program

Deadline is Aug. 20 to apply for the federal Forest Legacy Program, whieh is administrated through the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Forestry and Wildlife Division.

"The Forest Legacy Program ean be a very competitive program with only a few dozen projects being funded by the U.S. Forest Service eaeh year," said Roger Imoto, DLNR Forestry and Wildlife administrator, "but Hawai'i projects have always competed well in this nahonal program with the majority of our projects ranking in the top 15. "With the help of land trusts and conservation minded landowners, we have been able to protect our important forest resource, preserving watersheds, sheltering endangered species, and safeguard our culturally important sites," Imoto said. More than 2 million acres of threatened private forests have been protected under the Forest Legacy Program, of whieh 45,000 acres have been protected under Hawai'i's program.

Applications are available at http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/dofaw/ forestry/hflp. Landowners and nonprofit entities interested in participating in the Forest Legacy Program are encouraged to contact Irene Sprecher at the Division of Forestry and Wildlife at (808) 587-4167 or Melissa.I.Sprecher@hawaii.gov.